Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov has apologised to the team's fans who made the 250-mile round trip to Chelsea to watch their side's 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the Blues on Saturday.

A 10-match unbeaten league run had put Villa on course to challenge for a place in next year's Champions League but they turned in a woeful performance against Carlo Ancelotti's side, who now sit one point behind Manchester United in the title race.

Wigan refunded the costs of all their fans who travelled to watch the Latics' 9-1 humbling at Tottenham in November, and some Villa fans have called on their club's hierarchy to do the same.

Villa captain Petrov said he sympathised with the 2,300 fans who made the long trip to the capital, but promised that his side will perform much better when they face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday week.

“We feel sorry for the travelling fans because they have been magnificent for us and what they saw wasn't pleasant,” Petrov said. “We've got a semi-final to look forward to and we need to play them and I think we'll be a lot different in the semi-final.”